Our Therapeutic Bishops

by Darel E. Paul

Bishop Foys and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz lived out our elite’s moral ideal by condemning their own children in the interest of self-realization and social order.  Continue Reading »

25 Jan 2019

The Myth of the Moderate Catholic

by William Doino Jr.

Any Catholic who rejects Catholic teaching, or who technically accepts it but minimizes it to the point of insignificance, is not a “moderate” Catholic but a dissenter, or one seeking approval from the world (a temptation Our Lord warns against)—and should be identified as such. Continue Reading »

29 Aug 2016

There’s No Such Thing as an Ex-Catholic

by J. D. Flynn

Catholicism comes without an escape clause: Once a person is baptized or received into the Church, there is no getting out. We blaspheme when we presume to undo the consequences of baptism by differentiating between “so-called Catholics” and the genuine article. Continue Reading »

4 Aug 2016

Catholics Must Resist Ethno-Nationalism

by Brandon McGinley

The rightful place of the Catholic is always alongside the poor, the marginalized, the excluded—all the more so because Catholics have traditionally been overrepresented among the poor, the marginalized, and the excluded in American society. Continue Reading »

28 Jul 2016

After the “G-word” has been spoken

by George Weigel

In the early Church, witnesses to the faith who had been persecuted and tortured but not killed were known as “martyr-confessors.” It’s been one of the great privileges of my life to have known such men and women: Czech priests who spent years as slave laborers in uranium mines; Lithuanian . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Apr 2016

Five Ways the Church Can Help Married and Engaged Couples

by Ashley McGuire

Sitting at a high-top table in Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, just a few blocks away from Pope Francis and the World Meeting of Families, a young priest friend leaned in and asked me what I wish had been different about my marriage prep. “Having been through it recently, what would you . . . . Continue Reading »

21 Oct 2015

World Christianity by the Numbers

by George Weigel

The annual “Status of Global Christianity” survey published by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research is a cornucopia of numbers: Some are encouraging; others are discouraging; many of them are important for grasping the nature of this particular moment in Christian history. Continue Reading »

25 Feb 2015

Catholics Don’t Sing Like Lutherans

by Russell E. Saltzman

Let’s get right to the point. Why are Catholics such poor hymn singers? Continue Reading »

12 Feb 2015

Fr. McBrien’s Legacy

by William Doino Jr.

When Fr. Richard McBrien—author of twenty-five books, syndicated columnist, and previous chairman of the theology department at Notre Dame—died last month after a long illness, the Catholic world lost one of its best-known scholars and commentators. Continue Reading »

9 Feb 2015

Evangelical Challenges for Vatican Diplomacy

by George Weigel

The bilateral diplomacy of the Holy See is unique in world affairs, in that it has little or nothing to do with the things with which diplomats typically occupy their time: trade issues, security matters, visas. Rather, the reason why the Vatican engages in bilateral diplomacy is to secure the freedom of the Catholic Church to be itself in the countries with which the Holy See has, or wishes to have, diplomatic relations. To be sure, in crisis situations, the Holy See’s representative in a crumbling or violence-ridden state can also serve as an honest broker amidst contending local parties, or a voice for persecuted Catholic communities, or a channel for humanitarian assistance. But whatever the situation, the first task of the pope’s representative to another sovereignty is to help maintain free space for the Church’s evangelical, sacramental, educational and charitable missions, all of which are essential to what it means to be “the Catholic Church” in any human situation. Continue Reading »

4 Feb 2015